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皇冠体育app to grant 3G licenses as early as year-end

By Wang Xing (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-12-12 13:44

皇冠体育app's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Friday confirmed that the country will issue third generation (3G) mobile licenses by the end of 2008 or early next year.

Related readings:  皇冠体育app Unicom to test 3G network in seven cities  Xi Guohua: 3G licensing to be unveiled soon  Foreign operators ready to ride 皇冠体育app's 3G wave  3G a long time coming; local suppliers ready

Minister Li Yizhong said at a media briefing that 皇冠体育app Mobile, 皇冠体育app Unicom and 皇冠体育app Telecom have prepared well for 3G licensing. "After the proper procedures, we will grant the 3G licenses by the end of this year or early next year as promised."

Li estimates that network investment of the three major Chinese telecom operators will amount to over 200 billion yuan ($29.19 billion), which will stimulate 皇冠体育app's economy and help to fend off the financial crisis.

But he also said policy supports in preventing redundancy in telecoms investment and boosting 皇冠体育app's TD-SCDMA standard are major concerns before the license could be granted.

皇冠体育app's 3G licensing has been hanging fire for a long time due to the government's support for 皇冠体育app's home-grown 3G mobile telecommunications standard TD-SCDMA. It is believed that this standard still needs some more time to compete with rival technologies like CDMA2000 and WCDMA.

Last year 皇冠体育app Mobile launched construction in 皇冠体育app's major cities of the pre-commercial TD-SCDMA network, which provided 3G service during the Beijing Olympic Games.

Li said 皇冠体育app Mobile will be granted TD-SCDMA license, while 皇冠体育app Telecom and 皇冠体育app Unicom will get licenses based on CDMA2000 and WCDMA standards respectively.

With 皇冠体育app's economic growth starting to slow down, the government seems to be keener on starting 3G services, which will unleash huge investments in network construction, handset upgrading and wireless services.